The Ultimate Tool For Understanding The Information That Matters Most To You

You can't enter any edtech meeting without hearing AI mentioned at least every 5th word. Obviously, the floodgates of AI have been opened across many fields but it seems to be especially prominent in the education space. There certainly are promising possibilities. The idea of personalized learning no longer seems like a dream. The ability for English language learners to have content translated and leveled for them is no longer an arduous chore. Students can get feedback on their writing without needing to hire a specialized writing tutor. And for educators, the notion of automating some of the more mundane or frustrating tasks is becoming a reality. Now don't get me wrong, there is plenty to worry about with the use of AI, including the fact that it can make things up (called hallucinations) or that students can generate content and perhaps bypass their own thinking. 

There is one tool that has people barging into my office in stunned disbelief and I am happy to report that it is now considered a core service for Google for Education Workspace Plus users (that's us). It is called NotebookLM.

What is NotebookLM?

Notebook LM is a Google AI-powere research and note taking tool that uses your uploaded documents, links, or files to create summaries, briefing docs, faq pages, study guides, and timelines. It can be used as a personal research assistant so that you can ask questions about the resources you have uploaded and it will give you some answers. It can help you verify the accuracy of information from your sources. It doesn't just give you the answer, it points to the source. It can also generate an AI podcast that will summarize the resources that you have added. And it is very, very good.

How Do I Use NotebookLM?

Start off by going to notebooklm.google.com and sign in using your school Google credentials. Since this is a core service, you can be assured that anything you enter will be protected by the same privacy laws and measures that all of our other approved digital tools follow. That being said, it is still a good idea to never enter personal information into an AI system.

The first step is to upload your sources. Once you click to create your first notebook, you can upload PDFs, website links, audio files, Google docs or slides, and NotebookLM will summarize them and make interesting connections between topics. 

• On the left panel you will see your sources. Here you can add more or click "Discover" to find more sources that are relevant to your topic. 
• In the center, you will see the chat window. There will be a brief summary of your uploaded resources and then you can prompt the chat to ask it for specific information. Here, you can also click to have it create a mind map or you can add a note.
• On the right is the studio panel. Click to create a podcast version that you can listen to. You can also click "interactive mode" to ask the podcasters specific questions about your information. Here, you can also have it create a study guide, briefing doc, FAQ page, and a timeline. There is also room for you to add your own notes. 

Here is the mind map:

Listen to the podcast by clicking here! 

(you won't believe it)

Can I Share A Notebook?

You have the ability to share your notebook by clicking on the share icon in the upper right corner. You will see a familiar share window that behaves just like the sharing capabilities in a Google doc. This will send an email notification and share the entire notebook with someone else. You can also copy the link and send it that way. Keep in mind that even with the link, specific people need to be given access, you can work around this by including a Google group such as a department or a class. If you just want to share the audio podcast, you can click the three vertical dots and download it to share. 

What Are The Benefits Of NotebookLM?

First, this tool will definitely save you time if you are doing any type of research or analysis of documents or websites. One of the big benefits is that NotebookLM cites all of its sources so you know exactly where everything is coming from. Data privacy is another big bonus. Since you are able to log in with your school Google credentials, Google will not use your data to train its models or store it anywhere. Finally, the podcast feature is fantastic. Do I want to spend hours pouring over multiple documents and analyzing them? I absolutely do not. Would I listen to a 20 minute podcast while walking my dog to hear the summary and analysis? Definitely! Then, I can go deeper if needed. But NotebookLM helps me get over the initial hump of being faced with a mountain of text. 

Regardless of your feelings around AI,  it is all around us and it is here to stay. NotebookLM is a wonderful way to try it out without needing to know how to properly prompt. It is simple, straightforward, and the results are incredible.

Want to try it out with a friend? Feel free to reach out to me. I'm happy to help.